Comments (3)

all people/children metobalize medications differently and yes some have to increase dose after time as they become tollerant to the dose they had been on. sometimes it takes more than one med to manage symptoms. sometime it takes twice daily dosing, even if it's a long acting medication that usually is intended for once daily dose. also I have found with my son that what worked several years ago doesn't work now as he has aged his needs are different. hang in there, eventually you will find what works best for child

We just started Intuniv, too. My DS (10) started on 12-18 with 1 mg. We are up to 2 mg. now, and so far, I'm happy with how he is at home. School is back in session, so hopefully I'll get good reports from his teachers this week or next. He's only complained about a headache a couple times, and he seems a little more sleepy, but the dr. said that should go away after a few weeks. He has never done well on stimulants, so I'm happy they came out with another non-stimulant med.

My DS (10) has been on Intuniv for about a year now. He's on the 3 mg dose, but we might be increasing to 4 mg when we go to the doc Monday. We went the non-steroid route because he had a really bad reaction to the first stimulant he was on and I really didn't want to go the stimulant route to begin with. Initially, he was on Strattera, but that did nothing for his hyperactivity and it really started affecting his schoolwork. So, I made an appt to with his doc to try a different stimulant, did some research beforehand and learned about Intuniv. He's done really well on it, but like your DD, the meds seem to lose some of their effectiveness after a few months. He fell off the meds this past summer because towards the end of my pregnancy, I was in and out of the hospital and in the midst forgot the meds. So, we had to start all over right around the time school started and this time around, the Intuniv just didn't seem as effective. We added Concerta a month ago and the 2 combined seemed to work perfectly, until he started having really bad mood swings anyway. I've since taken him off the Concerta and the mood swings have stabilized. Intuniv can make them sleepy, so I found it's best to take in the evening at first. Once they're on it for a while and their body has gotten used to it, you can gradually move it to a morning dose if that works better for you.

If the Intuniv doesn't seem to work on it's own, you should talk to your dr about doing an Intuniv/stimulant combo. The combo worked wonderfully in regards to fully and effectively treating my son's ADHD and if your DD does fine on stimulants, it's worth a try.

Good luck!

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Kimberly

Noah (10),Kai (7/26)

I believe in luck; how else can you explain the success of those you don't like? ~Jean Cocteau